Theater-seat light



Jung 15 1926.

B.VM. MQCONNELL THEATER SEAT LIGHT Filed May 20, 1922 I 3 Sheets-Sheet.l

LBMHK. 414W er a? a I I ,1 Arm/Mr.

June 15 1926.-

B. M. M CONNELL THEATER SEAT LIGHT Filed May 20, 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 R GRAM. LOverTwre fmm 5103f INVENTOR M ATTORNEY.

June 15 1926.

B. M. M CONNELL THEATERHSEAT LIGHT Filed May 20. 1922 a sheets-sheet 5 E/VTOR Jim W raw /#ATTOHIVEV.'

.should not Patented June 15,

UNITED STATES BURT M. MCCONNELL. OF NEW YORK, Y.

THEATER-SEAT LIGHT.

lpplication filed May 20, 1922. Serial No. 562,433.

This invention is a self-contained light for attachment to a theater seat, so that a patron of the theater may at any time consult his pro am.

Under exlstin conditions, the lights are usually darkene at the .rise of the curtain; if the patron arrives late, or if he has neg.- lected to consult his pro am to find where the scene is laid; or if e wishes to ascertain the names of the characters and actors, he has to wait until the end of the act to do so. Furthermore 'in. the larger moving picture theaters the performances are continuous, involve a number of features, and last from early afternoon until .about 11 p. m., with patrons entering and leaving all durs ing this time; many persons arrive in the middle of a picture, and would like to know at what stage of the picture and at what stage of the performance they are. \Vhile such theaters usually print programs, the patron has to wait until the lights go on again, which ma be an hour or so, before he can consult h1s program;

This invention is a lighting attachment for attachment to the back of a theater seat and operated by the patron himself, so that he may, at any time, turn on the light and read his program. The assembly comprises a battery, a switch, a light, a shade for the light, and means for attachment to the back of a theater seat.

Since the battery and the lamp must be renewed from time to time, the assembly is made so that access may be hadto the interior for inspection and renewal. of the parts. However, in order to prevent unauthorized opgning of the casing, such access made too easy; therefore, a simple form of lock is used to hold the casing closed. I I

j The invention hereinvolved may be carried out in many possible'ways. The basic structure is a lighting attachment, attached to a theater seat and operated by the patron himself; the device may be opened as required for renewing the battery or electric light bulb.

T Another way of carrying out the'same basic idea isshown in the companion application of Burt M. McGonnelland Walter Friend, filed .of even date herewith Serial In a modified form, the lighting attachment carries printed matter, suchas a program, or advertisements, orboth, in a position to be illuminated by the rays from the electric light, and which therefore may be illuminated at will by the. theater goer; in

one modification here described, such printed matter is illuminated from the rear thereof, altiiough this rear illumination is not essentia In the accompanying drawings, there is illustrated by way of example, certain embodiments of the invention; this disclosure is, however, purely illustrative, and it should be understood that the inventionis not limited to the precise construction here shown, but may be carried out in other ways.

In these drawings, Fig. 1 is a vertical section of one form of the. invention; Fig. 1. is a view of a detail; Fig. 2 shows the device of Fig. l in open position; .Figs. 3 and. 4 are sectional views of a -modification, in closed and open positions, respectively Fig. 4 is a view of a deta l; Fig. 5 is a front view of still another 1 -form of invention; Fig. 5 is a side view of a detail; Fig. 6 is a sectional view through Fig. 5; Figs. 7 and 8 are perspective views of details.

Referring first to Fig. a housing 5 is hinged to a small plate 6, attached to the backof the theater seat 7 by a screw 8; the upper 'end 9 of the housing is fastened to the seat by a screw 11. The housing is preferably metal, such as aluminum. Screws 1 8 and. 11 are provided with two holes, in-

stead of the usual slot, as shown in Fig. 1, so that a special tool must be-used for removing them. This isto prevent unauthorized opening or tampering with the fixture. Other means for locking the housing 5 could, of course, beused.

In the lower part of the housing is mounttive pole of which is indicated at 13'. A block 14 of insulating material is mounted in the housing just above the battery 12. Through it passes a spring-pressed pin 15, theupper end of which isadapted to contact with thecentral contact point of a small electric light bulb 16, mounted in the socket 17 supported on the standard 18.

:The current from the battery passes up the pin 15, through the light, into the socket, through standard 18 and into a contact arm.

ill)

ed a dry cell 12 of standard design, the posi- 19. This arm is engageable by the pin 21 of a push button 22 carried in a recess in the top of the housing. The current passes to pin 21, thence through the spring 23 of the'push button, and into the metal of the housing and thence back to the cell 12 through the spring 24.

The electric light bulb is located slightly above an opening in the housing, which opening is provided with a shade 26, so as to direct the rays from the light downwardly and outwardly. The inside surface 27 of the shade is preferably painted or enameled white for aiding its reflective power.

When it is desired to inspect the lighting attachment or to renew .the battery or bulb, the housing is opened as in Fig. 2, after re v moving the upper screw 11.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, similar parts are similarly numbered.- In this modification, the housing which carries the assembly of the battery, bulb and switch, is attached to a backing plate, which. in turn is fastened to the theater seat.

The backing plate, shown at 31, is attached to the seat by screws 32, of the character shown in Fig. 1 The housing is mounted on the backing plate, so as to be movable away therefrom, in a slightly different manner from the hinged attachment of Fig. 1. -The lower end of the housing 5 is provided with a lug 33, illustrated in Fig. 8, which engages in an opening 34 in the backing plate; the upper end of the housing is attached to the backing plate 'by a screw'35 with a two-holed head.

Fig. 4 shows the housing opened for inspectlon and renewal of the parts, after removal of screw 35. Instead of screw 35, other locking means could obviously be used.

In this modification is also shown a card 36 behind a piece of glass 37 which may have printed matter thereon, such as the program, or advertising matter, or both. This card is illuminated by rays reflected down from the inside surface 27 of the shade 26.

Card 36 and glass 37 are held in place by" a bezel 38, one side of the bezel being cut away, as shown in Figs. 5 andf5 so that the card is readily renewable. A clip 39 holds the card in place.

The modification shown in- Figs. 5 and 6 is similar, in its main features, to the form shown in Figs. 3 and 4. It has the additional feature of illuminating the card 36 from the back. To this end, the housing 5 is widened out as at 5, and a mirror 41 mounted so as to reflect light'onto the rear of the card 36. Light is reflected downwardly onto the mirror by the shade 26 and the reflector 42. With this construction, the illumination of the. card is particularly good.

rays downwardly; means for pivoting With either form of the invention, the downward pivotal movement of the housing is-limited so that it will hang in an open position, and so will be readily accessible for renewing the battery or bulb. In Figs. 1 and 2, the bottom of the housing 5 will abut against plate 6; in Fig. 6, the end of lug 33 will abut against the theater seat; each of these abut-ments serves to limit the downward swing of the housing.

While certain preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to any specific construction, and that the invention may be carried out in other ways.

I claim as my invention 1. A lighting device for attachment to a theater seat, comprising a housing open at one side and provided with a shaded opening at the opposite side; a cell, alight and a switch in circuit, carried by the housing, the light being located near said shaded opening; and-means engageable with the op- "posite sides of the housing for detachably securing it to the theater seat with the said open side toward the seat.

2. A lighting device for attachment to a theater seat, comprising a backing plate adapted to be secured to the theater seat,'a housing, open at one side and provided with an opening in the opposite side; a cell, a light and a switch in circuit, carried by the housing, the li ht being inside .thehousing near the shade opening; and means for detachably securing the housing to the backing plate with its open side thereagainst. i

A lighting device for attachment to a theater seat, comprising a backing plate adapted to be secured to the theater seat; a housing, open at one side and provided with a shaded opening in'the opposite side; acell, a light and a switch in circuit, carried by the housing, with the light inside the housing near the shaded opening; means for pivotally engaging one end of the housing with the backing plate; and means for detachably securing theother end of the housing to the backing plate.

4. A l'ghting theater seat comprising a housing open-at one side and provided with a smaller opening near the top of the opposite side; a shade for said smaller opening for directing lightthe housing to the theater seat to swing outwardly; a light inside the housing nearsaid smaller opening, and a cell and a switch in circuit with the light. 1

' BURT 'M. McOONNELL.

device for attachment to a 

